Defiance of the Fall: A LitRPG Adventure

by TheFirstDefier

  Zac wondered if he could carry around a patch of forest in a pouch, and throw it out whenever he was entering a battle. That way, he’d always have the improved bonus. He was curious if there were any other functions of the skill, as [Axe Mastery] had given him the training system, so he tried finding another pocket space in his body.

  As he suspected, when he turned his gaze inward, he found another area in his body, this time in his chest. The last fractal he’d gained in this manner looked like a large axe, exuding the Dao of Heaviness. This fractal rather looked like the Tree of Life he’d seen in the vision, but inert.

  Next, he checked his status page to see what other changes might have occurred.

  Name: Zachary Atwood

  Level: 36

  Class: [F-Rare] Hatchetman

  Race: [E] Human

  Alignment: [Earth] Human

  Titles: Born for Carnage, Ultimate Reaper, Luck of the Draw, Giantsbane, Disciple of David, Overpowered, Slayer of Leviathans, Adventurer, Demon Slayer, Full of Class, Rarified Being, Trailblazer, Child of Dao, The Big 500, Planetary Aegis

  Dao:Seed of Heaviness – Early, Seed of Trees – Early

  Strength: 189

  Dexterity: 69

  Endurance: 147

  Vitality: 105

  Intelligence: 57

  Wisdom: 57

  Luck: 77

  Free Points: 3

  Nexus Coins: 538,317

  He’d actually already acquired another Dao Seed during his meditation without even noticing it. It was called the Dao Seed of Trees, and a prompt showed its properties.

  [Dao Seed of Trees – Early. Vitality +10, Endurance +5]

  The properties of the Dao indicated that it wasn’t a Dao meant for battle, but he was fine with that. He already had the Dao of Heaviness for battle, and he was making inroads on the Dao of Sharpness from his activities in the mines. Having a defensive Dao to accompany the offensive ones seemed quite good. And if he was going to fight in a sea of beasts, having an improved Endurance and Vitality would come in quite handy.

  He was a bit disappointed that the seed he gained felt pretty distant from the supreme entity that was the Tree of Life. Then again, the vision of the axe-man was quite distant from the Seed of Heaviness as well. Besides, Ogras had already warned him against hoping he would gain some high-tiered concept as a Dao.

  Zac knew what to do now that he knew he had a new Dao Seed, and started channeling the Dao of Trees into the fractal, and it lit up with a green luster.

  The once dead tree started to emanate an aura, but it wasn’t oppressive like the one from his axe. Instead, it gave a refreshing feeling, but also spoke of unyielding perseverance. Of course, the aura was like a firefly against the towering sun that was the Tree of Life in his vision.

  If the endpoint of his first vision was the Dao of Axe or Dao of Destruction, then this one rather led toward the Dao of Life or Dao of Nature. The duality of his vastly different seeds reminded Zac of yin and yang, and he felt that it was an extremely well-balanced foundation to build his future upon.

  No prompts lit up his surroundings like with the last skill when he’d infused the tree made from fractals, and the only discernible difference was that he felt it start to emanate a warmth that spread out throughout his body. It felt a bit like when he drank the azure water, but he instinctively knew that this warmth wasn’t hurting him.

  He tried swinging his axe a bit while he was infused with the Dao of Trees, but he felt no improvement in his speed or strength. He was even having trouble keeping the Dao active as he moved around, the warm feeling noticeably subsiding. It made sense since trees weren’t really mobile unless Ents were a thing in the Multiverse. Besides, Zac had already surmised that the new Dao wasn’t meant for battle from the attributes it awarded, and this somewhat confirmed it.

  Having an idea, he cut a wound on his left arm and once again sat down. As he started to infuse the Dao and some Cosmic Energy into the tree again, he felt the warmth properly spread out once more. The wound on his arm started itching within seconds, and Zac felt how the warmth moved toward his wound and started healing it. It wasn’t to the point that he could see the improvements with his naked eye, but he knew it was improving his recovery rate. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to work on his damaged pathways, at least not with Early mastery.

  Satisfied, he once again focused on the status screen. He noticed that there was no new title this time for attaining a second Dao. He felt it should be due to the fact that there was no award for a second Dao, rather than multiple people having beaten him to it. There shouldn’t be too many who already had a second Dao, it wasn’t like one could just stare at a fire for a few days and suddenly know the Dao of Fire.

  He realized he still had three free points from his level when the herald died. After some hesitation, he allocated them into Dexterity, bringing the stat to 73. Alyn had told him earlier that the general view on the connection between Dexterity and Strength in the Multiverse was that one of the stats shouldn’t be more than 100% larger than the other. After that, the effectiveness started to wear off.

  For example, with great Dexterity but no Strength, one would be able to hit the enemies in a dizzying blur, but each strike would be too weak to do proper damage. Conversely, Zac’s case was that he possessed monstrous Strength, but very low Dexterity. His strikes would be strong, but they would be slow and clumsy, making it easy to deflect or dodge them.

  It had only really been a problem when he’d faced Rydel so far, but in the future, he would meet more and more enemies with stats that could match his, so he needed to get his attributes balanced as soon as possible.

  It felt a bit weird to forgo his min-max strategy that always had been his method when playing games, but he needed to get used to the fact that video game knowledge could only take him so far in this reality. Of course, there were exceptions to the general guidelines of stat allocation, but you really needed to know what you were doing.

  Zac felt that he should stick to the most-accepted route for now at least, and only change it up in the future if he was absolutely certain. Besides, his Strength would keep increasing through his Dao and his class bonuses, even if he didn’t specifically allocate any more stats there for a while.

  Finally done with everything, he set out toward Port Atwood, but after only an hour of walking, he was once again interrupted. This time, it was his [Loamwalker] quest that was completed. Eagerly, he checked the skill out, and as he expected, this time, it was a fractal that went on his legs. More specifically, it was two identical fractals that were placed on the soles of his feet, directly touching the ground below.

  Zac didn’t hesitate and immediately infused the new fractals with energy. As he stood still, he noticed no difference, but when he took a step, the world turned blurry for an instant. Afterward, he found himself standing two meters away from his original position. The skill actually increased the distance he traversed somehow.

  Zac kept trying to figure the skill out by repeatedly moving around, but he had a hard time grasping what the skill actually did. Initially, he thought that it teleported him small distances, but he noticed that the movement wasn’t instantaneous. Next, he guessed that he got super speed while he moved, but he felt that wasn’t quite right either. He tried swinging an axe while he moved, but the movement was far quicker compared to his swing. It was as though the earth moved around him rather than him moving on the earth.

  Did the skill somehow disconnect him from Earth’s rotation? That couldn’t be correct either, as he had no problems moving in any direction. After a while, he gave up trying to explain it with logic, and could only conclude he magically moved quickly somehow. As long as he was touching the earth, that is. He also tried jumping and running, but as soon as he stopped touching the ground with at least one foot, the effect disappeared.

  He kept using [Loamwalker] as he walked toward his camp in order to get used to the skill. It was an odd feeling to move faster when he leisurely
walked compared to when he ran. After a while, he was forced to stop using the skill, as the consumption of Cosmic Energy was quite high. It wasn’t made for long-distance movement, but all in all, he was quite happy with the skill.

  He wouldn’t be able to do magical feats such as strolling in the air as Rydel did, but the skill would be quite convenient in battle. He could keep moving between targets deceptively fast, and use the skill for both ambush and retreat. Of course, it would take some practice until he was proficient in combining the movement skill with battle skills.

  His grasp over how far he walked right now was terrible, and he slammed into trees like a barghest four times in a short duration due to his lack of control. He could only put it aside for now and keep walking until he arrived at Port Atwood.

  The wall was coming along nicely, and it was even taller compared to the one in Azh’Rodum. The demons knew a beast horde was coming and didn’t dare slack off. If the town fell, their settlement would be next, and they wouldn’t have the defenses of strong arrays or System-bought fortifications helping them out there. Saving Port Atwood was essential, even from a selfish standpoint.

  He entered through a gate and started to look for Ogras. He couldn’t find him anywhere, and he wasn’t able to ask the resting demons either, as none of those present seemed to possess [Book of Babel]. He first went to the merchant compound to check whether the demon was there. Calrin met up with him and, after a few pleasantries, explained that the demon hadn’t been there today.

  Zac also asked for a status update regarding his order, but Calrin explained he still hadn’t been able to acquire a pill that could heal pathways, looking a bit embarrassed. Zac sighed in disappointment but thanked him and left, heading for the shipyard.

  Ogras shouldn’t have any reason to approach the Creators, but he couldn’t be sure. As he closed in on the shipyard, he actually heard some subdued voices. Suspicious, he brought out his axe and closed in on the source of the sounds. Soon he saw Ogras, and together with him were two other male demons Zac hadn’t seen before.

  “Ah, you’re here. That makes things easier,” Ogras said as two spears wrought from shadows impaled the chests of the demons, instantly killing them.

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  Subjects

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Zac loudly exclaimed, shocked as the two demons fell lifelessly to the ground.

  “These two were snooping around the shipyard on their breaks. I’m not sure what their goal was, but we couldn’t have them walking around as they wished. These two will also set an example for any other curious individuals,” the demon tartly explained as he brought out an axe identical to those Zac used from his pouch.

  With two swift swings, he decapitated the lifeless bodies before he slammed the axe into the thin wounds on their chests, effectively masking their true cause of death. Zac mutely looked on, having some problems processing what was happening. Was the demon framing him right in front of his eyes? Ogras felt Zac’s stare and glanced in his direction, giving a slight shrug.

  “It’s better if you killed them. It will remind the others that you are not to be provoked, and you don’t take kindly to people looking into your business. If it was found out that I killed them just because they were looking at some humans at the shipyard, I will start losing my grasp on the other demons.”

  Zac silently stared at the two demons on the ground, a cold feeling gripping his heart. He felt he had grown a bit lax against the demons, particularly the one in front of him. While Zac believed it was in Ogras’ interest to keep Port Atwood and Zac protected for at least a decade until he could try to usurp it, he couldn’t be sure of the demon’s plans.

  This was a person who had no problems betraying those close to him without batting an eye as long as it benefitted him. Besides, he couldn’t be sure whether Ogras’ story was true. For all Zac knew, he’d happened upon a clandestine meeting, and Ogras killed his allies rather than let his plans be exposed.

  But Zac also realized that might just be how the Multiverse worked. Might makes right, and benefits trump friendships. He knew that he had grown callous as well, as he wasn’t about to clamor for justice for these two or start some sort of investigation. There was no benefit to it, and he’d rather just bear the blame so that people would keep away from his shipyard. Getting tired of the whole situation, he could only move on. It was a bit annoying to be framed for the murders, but he had already killed hundreds of demons. What was two more to the tally?

  “How are the fortifications coming along? And where are the crystals?” Zac asked as he put away his axe, not bothering with the two fallen demons any longer.

  Ogras, looking pleased that Zac wasn’t making a big deal of the situation, swiftly took out a few Cosmos Sacks from a pocket and threw them over.

  “The wall will be done with a few days to spare, and the mining operations are proceeding splendidly. Now that there aren’t a dozen main branch assholes embezzling a part of the cake, the daily output is above expectations. We have mined and refined a total of 109,344 crystals so far, meaning slightly more than five million Nexus Coins. A few issues have cropped up, though.”

  “What now?” Zac asked with a grimace. He should have known it was impossible to only get good news.

  “First of all, the lizards down in the tunnel are getting more aggressive, and we don’t possess as much manpower as we did, making it hard to keep them at bay. Secondly, I have run into a snag with the gnomes, but we may be able to turn it into an opportunity. But most importantly, I’ve run out of moving pictures,” he said.

  “Moving pictures?” Zac asked, confused, to which Ogras fished out Izzy’s portable video player from a sack, waving it at Zac. Zac had completely forgotten she had brought it with her when the group went camping, but it seemed that the demon had found it while idling in his camp.

  “I have watched everything inside this device, and I must say that this planet is pretty interesting, making all these things. I bet we can make some money if we figure out how to turn the moving pictures into crystals and sell them. Is there any more than what’s contained in this device?”

  Zac was stumped, his mouth curving a bit upward. He knew that the demons didn’t use much technology, as it was frowned upon on their home world just like large parts of the Multiverse. The demons were very much in favor of the System, which put them against the so-called Technocrats, and they disdained to use devices that weren’t created with fractals and inscriptions.

  “There’s enough for you to watch until you die, even if your longevity gets a few upgrades. I don’t have any more with me, though.”

  “Then we need to quickly beat the beast hordes and find human settlements.”

  “Uh, yeah. How are you charging the player anyway? It should have run out of power long ago. And what about the merchants?”

  “Any decent lightning mage can charge up the energy containers on this type of device. Even normal cultivators can do it when their fine control of Cosmic Energy gets high enough.” Ogras waved dismissively. “And it seems we might have pushed the Sky Gnomes a bit too hard. I’ve had a talk with Calrin, and they might actually go under if we keep forcing these prices.”

  “We pushed them?” Zac asked pointedly as he stored the little information nugget that one could use Cosmic Energy to charge devices. Perhaps he could even resurrect the car with some training.

  “I didn’t see you stop me. In any case, from what I understand, the merchants have made some truly troublesome enemies, and they have managed to put pressure on the Thayer Consortium, even through the Mercantile System. Calrin is unable to make a profit as it stands, and the Ruthless Heavens might actually revoke their license.” Ogras sighed.

  “So we need to lower our asking price? Are you sure it’s not a business tactic? That little guy seemed to be pretty thick-skinned,” Zac asked, not relishing the thought of lowering the price. A difference of only a few coins per crystal would turn into a huge amount when put to the perspective of the wh
ole mine.

  “It doesn’t look like he’s lying. He truly fears for his life from the look of his eyes lately. But that doesn’t mean we need to just throw away money. We’re not a charity. I’ve worked out a deal that I think will benefit you in the long run instead,” Ogras answered, the greedy face once more showing.

  “We only demand 42 Nexus Coins per crystal. In return, Calrin hands over 25% of the consortium to us.”

  “That’s a lot of profit to give away for a run-down shop where I’m the only customer. And what do you mean to us?” Zac said, unconvinced.

  “What we’re investing in is not the shop itself, but their Mercantile License. They are notoriously hard to acquire and very sought after since they give access to the Mercantile System, allowing you to trade with the whole Multiverse. In a normal situation, you’d have to pawn off a whole continent to get the license, but now we’re in a position to snatch up a stake for just a few million Nexus Coins.

  “If we help them get back on their feet and help them grow, more and more coins will enter our pockets. Imagine your whole planet full of branches selling all the essentials to billions of people, and all that profit will find its way back to us. Then we can even expand to other planets, the income only becoming larger. Progressing and becoming stronger gets insanely expensive as you get to higher ranks, and this can help out a lot.” Ogras became more and more animated as he launched into his business plan, and Zac was starting to get excited as well. If it was as he explained, this was a great opportunity to make some money.

  “What about their enemy? Won’t they become our enemy as well? What do you know about them?” Zac still hesitated, as he had enough things on his plate. Adding some formidable foe into the mix wasn’t an option, even if it meant giving up potential profit.